Support – Yemen Used to Be

It All Started with One Video.

It All Started
with

Our story starts in 2017 as both Filmmaker Ahmed Al Hagri and Graphic Designer Waleed Al Ward led their independent journeys to explore the real scene of Yemen’s art and culture. Then, speeding up events to 2018, at a social event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Ahmed Al Hagri, alongside a group of Yemeni culture enthusiasts, produced a pilot short film. This film was an homage to Yemen and received positive feedback from the international audience present that day. Today, we consider it as our platform’s first chapter that established our essence.

Press Features

MEDIA FEATURES

Yemen Used to Be: Using Art to Bring a Rich History Back to Life, Middle East Monitor (2021)
‘Broken People Can’t Heal a Nation’: The Role of Arts in Peacebuilding in Yemen, Yemen Policy Center and CARPO (2021)
Yemen Used to Be: Documenting history using Instagram, Felix Arabia Magazine (2021)
The Other Face of A Country at War, Global Voices (2021)
Yemen Activists Want to Preserve Country’s Beauty Beyond War, Voice of America (2020)
Yemen Used to Be: A History of A Country, AJ+ Arabi / AJ+ Español (2019)
Altering the current negative image by declaring Yemen’s history, Al-Hurra TV (2020)

Growing up, we were raised to see things in a certain way. As if there was a political agenda. We didn't learn much about the deeper history and real culture that lives within Yemen, from the people to the food and celebrations. That's why now we want to change the narrative.

Faiza Saqib Middle East Monitor

We believe that such realization of the importance of the shared history among Yemenis will help erase the contentions among Yemenis

Voice of America Nisan Ahmado

The nature of the archive is also about preserving and sharing a collective memory with a younger Yemeni audience who know little about their own cultural heritage.

CARPO with Yemen Policy Center & YWBODYemen

Our first objective is to change the negative image of Yemen in the eyes of those near and far. Within Yemen, people’s spirits have narrowed to a present where all they can see is the negativity around them.

Al-Madaniya Magazine

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